


Underpantsgate

by Windian



Category: Tales of Graces
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/F, Genderbend, fem!Hubert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 22:59:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12095301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windian/pseuds/Windian
Summary: Huberta advises Cheria that her short skirts have been causing a distraction in battle. The fact that they're distracting Huberta /herself/ is a matter she's not at liberty to disclose.





	Underpantsgate

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friend Lila for talking to me about AUs, and inspiring this scenario. I didn't know I shipped this, but hey. Here's an awful lot of Hubert being awkward and a lot of second hand embarrassment.

* * *

When the battle was done, Huberta dropped her voice. She asked: “Cheria, could I please speak with you?”

“Oh, sure Huberta. What is it?”

She made sure she was safely out of earshot of Sophie, Pascal and the boys before she spoke. “It's... kind of a delicate issue...”

“Come on. Out with it,” said Cheria. Her smile was bright enough to make something in Huberta's chest flutter. “You used to be able to tell me anything. Remember?”

“I remember,” Huberta said, her voice soft. Her bookish personality as a child and Cheria's illness meant that the two of them were were always indoors together. Cheria helped her with her needlework, and Huberta helped Cheria with her math homework. Huberta had once resented her older brother's prerogative to leave her behind, but as the years passed she soon found she found Cheria better company, anyway.

But that had been seven years ago, and a lot had changed in that time. Her friend had grown from a frail child to a strikingly beautiful woman, and the kind of thoughts Huberta had about her would have her finishing instructor at the Academy sending an eraser whizzing past her ear. Several restless, breathless nights she'd spent, staring at the stars and fighting away the thought of her childhood friend. It was a battle she was increasingly losing.

Huberta caught Malik looking their way, and returned it with a cold stare. He raised his hands, miming, _don't shoot_ , and Huberta rolled her eyes. Her brother could vouch for him all he liked, Huberta didn't trust the man one bit. Every thing about him screamed suspicious, and Asbel had always been naïve.

Huberta cleared her throat. “It's about your outfit...” she started.

Cheria interrupted her with a laugh. “Oh, please don't worry, Huberta. You were very thorough earlier.”

Huberta coloured.

The lot of them had turned up at Yu Liberte horribly sunburned, which had led to a lecture from Huberta regarding the importance of protecting your skin from the sun. If you weren't willing to wear more layers, you at least should wear proper sunblock. Which had led to Cheria asking her to rub lotion into her back.

That was probably about the same time Huberta had started losing sleep, actually.

Any kind of mumbling, fiddling or any sort of messing around had been drummed out of her by the Academy and Ms. Oswell's stern upbringing. But all the same, nervously, she batted her rapier against the leather of her boot. “It's about your skirt,” she said, quite suddenly. “It's too short.”

Cheria stared at her, open mouthed, as the rest of Huberta's face filled in with colour.

She ploughed ahead: “It rides up in battle when you're moving around, and shows your-- well. You know. _Undergarments_ ,” Huberta said, in a dire whisper.

Pink undergarments, in particular, with little bows on the front, far cuter than Huberta's own modest apparel. Not that she'd had been looking, of course. And definitely not that she'd been distracted by said pink undergarments and nearly fallen on her face.

Cheria's own face was pinkening, and oh god, why had Huberta thought this was a good idea? But instead of apologizing, she found herself plunging forward, throwing herself face forward to the precipice: “I only say because I don't want the boys getting distracted, or having any kind of ideas. That knight instructor in particular, I don't trust him to--”

But perhaps Huberta hadn't moved away as far as she thought, or else, the Captain had wolfishly good hearing. Because he called across, “Speaking of distraction, I recall someone else tripping over their own coat-tails earlier. Hm, Huberta?”

Oh, god.

Through the mist of embarrassment and anxiety she was stewing in, Huberta realised Cheria was crying.

Oh, oh god.

“Shorter skirts are just easier to move in,” she whispered, wide-eyed and completely mortified. “I had no idea that--”

“No, no, it's fine. It's not your fault,” Huberta said, backtracking as fast as she could. “Actually, it only happened a few times. It's--”

What should she do? Should she hug her? Was that the right thing to do? Awkwardly, she reached out, hand bumping against Cheria's shoulder. Cheria responded by sinking into Huberta's stiff awkward embrace, sniffling on her shoulder.

Huberta had daydreamed about this, late at night. Except that usually Cheria wasn't crying.

Awkwardly, Huberta patted her on the back. This was terrible. “Ur, it's okay. Forgive me, I, um, shouldn't have brought it up.”

Cheria responded with a hearty sniff.

Asbel took this opportune time to blunder into the conversation. “Hey Cheria, what's-- are you crying?” Panic invaded his voice; he stepped back.

Huberta would be furious at him, if she wasn't too busy being furious at herself.

“What do you care, you pervert?” Cheria shot at him, and before he could respond she stepped out of Huberta's arms and stalked away.

“What did I do?” he called after her. He looked helplessly at his sister, who shrugged, just as helplessly.

Eventually, Cheria calmed down. Malik snuck knowing, mortifying grins at him all evening. Pantsgate was never brought up again, and Huberta spent another long restless night gazing at the stars.

 


End file.
